Miko Fatale
by Tender Fantasies
Summary: Kagome has had enough of being kidnapped, picked on and used as bait. A drabble series in which a timid minnow transforms into a barracuda.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kagome or her comrades. I do, however own Joss.**

**Author's Note: Okay, I've decided to break out of the cycle of fluffy romance and get back to the good old days when my lady characters ruled the world. So for those of you who need a dose of girl power or just enjoy saucy women, this is for you.**

**This drabble dedicated to the fabulous SailorChibi ^_^**

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><p>Kagome sat at her desk, pondering the infinite mysteries of Trigonometry and drumming her pencil on the thick textbook. The thing might as well be written in Egyptian hieroglyphics as far as she was concerned for that was about how much sense it made.<p>

_Is that even possible?_ she wondered idly.

Her gaze wandered to the tiny bottle of jewel shards that twinkled in the sunlight streaming through her window.

_So tiny and yet so powerful_, Kagome mused. _Unlike me._

Spending most of her days in the company of a half-demon, Kagome was forced to admit to herself that she just couldn't one-up him in the fighting prowess department. Simply by the gift of his breeding, he was at least a hundred times stronger than she and he was about two hundred and fifty years old.

Kagome was sixteen, mortal and clumsy.

She might've felt better about her shortcomings if the only other girl in their group was likewise awkward. Fate decided to drop-kick Kagome's self-esteem when it introduced Sango into their group. The young woman was probably eighteen and quite possibly the original femme fatale. With her extensive arsenal of demon slaying weaponry, she was a one-woman army. Although Kagome doubted Sango needed about half of the stuff she carried. Given the opportunity, Sango could probably slay Naraku with a spork.

It was downright unfair to have to spend every waking moment of every day traveling alongside such a woman.

Kagome was sick of being the damsel in distress, tired of being rescued and fed up with being a victim. She wanted to be the one kicking ass and taking names while the rest of her friends looked on in awe. Kagome needed to prove to them and herself that she wasn't just a reincarnation picking up where her predecessor left off. She wanted to be seen as her own person, independent and a force to be reckoned with.

She was a _priestess_, for goodness sake! A miko could be stronger and more powerful than a hanyou or a demon slayer if she trained right. That was exactly what Kagome was aiming to do.

Her mind made up, Kagome marched downstairs, picked up the phone and punched in a series of numbers. Moments later, a woman picked up on the other end of the line.

"Malcolm residence," a deceptively sweet voice chirped.

"Hey Joss, how ya doin'?" Kagome greeted her American friend.

"Kagome!" she squealed in delight. "How's my favorite chicka?"

"Not so hot, actually, but I'm hoping you can help me fix that," Kagome confessed.

A few moments later, Kagome hung up the phone with a wicked smirk curling the corners of her lips. She remembered everyone insisting she was Kikyo's reincarnation and how everything she did was measured against Kikyo's accomplishments.

She remembered what she'd told InuYasha the first time she'd met him, "Kikyo, Kikyo! I don't know who she is, but I'm not her. I'm Kagome! Ka-Go-Me! I'm not anybody else!"

From now on, nobody would ever mistake her for Kikyo. She'd make damn sure of that.

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><p><strong>As a side note, I'm not bashing Kikyo here. I just wanted to get the point across that Kagome is sick of being compared to someone else.<strong>

**Reviews are appreciated and I'd love to hear your opinions!**


	2. Pwned

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kagome, but Joss is my OC creation. Steal her and the copyright demons will visit come pay you a visit. Don't forget to check under the bed :P**

**Author's Note: Drabble two in which Kagome begins her training.**

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><p><em>Pwned: "to be defeated by a superior power"<em>

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><p><strong>Pwned<strong>

Feminine grunts were punctuated heavy thuds and the strong riffs of an electric guitar ripped from large speakers.

Kagome's skin glistened with sweat as she poised to strike again. She sprang and landed a kick that sent the punching bag spinning from its suspended chain. She didn't let up, sinking a rapid succession of punches into the reeling target.

"Atta girl!" Joss praised with a whoop. "Kick his sorry ass!"

Joss Malcolm and her mother taught self-defense in the Onikamasu Dojo. When Kagome called her up a few days ago, Joss had been more than thrilled to arrange private lessons for her friend. She tried to encourage all women to take self-defense classes and she took great pride in transforming meek girls into self-reliant towers of strength. Luckily, Kagome was in pretty good shape so the pair of them focused on teaching Kagome's body how to fight.

Joss was more than a little surprised by the determination and seriousness in Kagome. Considering what she had heard from Kagome's trio of friends, her boyfriend seemed to be a real piece of work. Though the three had used terms like possessive, rude and thoughtless, whereas Kagome contradicted that he was just very protective. He never got rough with her (though he did have a coarse mouth) and anyone who threatened her would get the beating of a lifetime.

Kagome explained to Joss that she wanted to be able to stand up for herself in lieu of his absence. The American teen had nodded and said no further explanation was needed. So now, Joss was pretending to occupy herself with her own punching bag while secretly watching Kagome ferociously going after her target. She wondered who the poor sucker was that Kagome was envisioning as she worked up a good head of steam.

Vaguely, she heard Kagome spit the name "Kouga" followed by a particularly vicious kick that would've rendered any man incapable of reproducing.

_Whoever he is_, Joss mused with a smirk, _the guy was gonna be in big trouble some day._

Kagome's lips curled in a feral grin as she executed a nearly flawless round-house kick. She lost her balance a bit when she made contact with the punching bag, but she remained on her feet.

At least I didn't land on my ass this ti-…

She forgot to sidestep the punching bag's pendulum swing and it retaliated her previous abuse by slamming right into her backside. She stumbled forward, tripped over her own feet and landed in an ungainly sprawl on the mat.

Joss strode forward and caught the madly spinning target with ease, making a valiant effort not to laugh. Kagome groaned and pushed herself up on her hands, sliding her knees under her. She huffed, blowing her bangs out of her eyes and glared darkly at her grinning friend.

"Don't you _dare_ laugh," she growled dangerously.

To her credit, Joss kept her composure and propped an arm against the punching bag, leaning against it slightly.

"So, would you say that was kicking ass or getting your ass kicked?" she pondered cheekily.

Kagome's previous target loomed over her, gloating in victory, and her friend's companionable posture with the enemy made her temper spike. Without thought or warning, Kagome struck out with a powerful kick that sent the bag spinning and the next thing Joss knew, she was laying face first on the mat.

It took a few seconds for both to realize what Kagome had done and both teenagers erupted in howls of laughter.

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><p><strong>Author's note: <em>Onikamasu<em> is the Japanese word for "Great Barracuda". I thought that was appropriate. :D**


	3. Alibi

**I apologize for the long wait and the lull in updates! College and work have been sucking up nearly all my time these days.**

**Anyways, here's the newest drabble hot off the Microsoft Word press!**

**Obviously, I do not own InuYasha and company.**

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><p><em><strong>Alibi<strong>_

Kagome slipped out of her house with the pretense of heading off to meet with a study group. Though she felt a small prick of guilt for lying to her mother, the truth was simply too far-fetched even for _her_ to understand.

How could she tell her mother that she'd been sneaking off to a dojo each time she came home? For that matter, how would she go about explaining why she'd suddenly taken an interest in self-defense?

Feeling like a thief, Kagome bounded down the last few steps and just as she thought she was going to get away with it, Souta appeared out of thin air. Kagome gave a startled squeak at his sudden appearance. He was leaning against the low brick wall that ran parallel to the shrine grounds at street level.

"Where ya goin', sis?" he asked casually.

Something in the tone of his voice made Kagome uneasy and her heart sped up a bit. She composed herself and buried her guilty conscience under a smiling facade.

"Well, there's a study group meeting in the library to prepare for a test," she flawlessly delivered her well rehearsed line.

"Oh?" Souta replied. "What subject?"

"Algebra," Kagome answered easily, expecting the question.

"Really? What part of it are you studying in class?" her brother queried.

_Uh, oh._ Kagome thought.

"Erm, well…" she stumbled and cursed herself for not thinking a little further ahead.

Souta pushed off from the wall with his shoulders and fixed her with a piercing stare.

"You're lying," he stated bluntly.

Before Kagome could get a word in, he moved behind her and gave her backpack an experimental prodding.

"Awfully light textbooks you've got these days," he remarked off-handedly.

When he came to stand in front of her again, he crossed his arms and gave her a very grown-up stern look. Kagome's shoulders sagged and she found she couldn't lift her eyes from the sidewalk.

"Guess I'm busted, huh?" she mumbled sheepishly.

"Only if you don't let me in on it," Souta answered.

His stern frown split into a big grin and his scolding stare dissolved into a sneaky glint of mischief. Kagome found herself grinning in response and she quickly cast a glance around the sidewalk for eavesdroppers. She scanned the area with her miko senses, making sure that a certain hanyou hadn't slipped onto the shrine grounds under her radar. Satisfied that the coast was clear, Kagome spilled her secret to Souta.

"Alright here's the truth: I've been training at the Onikamasu Dojo with a friend of mine," she confessed in an excited whisper. "I've had enough of being the damsel in distress and relying on everyone else to rescue me. I'm tired of being demon bait and I'm sick of being picked on by anything and everyone. So I asked my friend to give me self-defense lessons."

Souta stared in wide-eyed disbelief at his big sister.

"_You're_ learning to _fight_?" he summarized incredulously.

"Yup!" Kagome confirmed proudly.

Souta merely gaped at her, too stunned to speak for a moment as the gears in his mind whirled madly. After a few moments of heavy silence, Kagome began to fear Souta would rat her out, but then the unexpected happened.

"Aw, man! That's so _cool_!" he drawled with awe.

Kagome couldn't help the feeling of wonder that flared to life at her brother's unbridled admiration. When was the last time anyone had been amazed by something she'd done? Once the newness of her Feudal Era adventures had worn off, it became apparent that Kagome was little more that a Sacred Jewel detector and Souta couldn't be impressed by any tales she brought home with her. In his eyes, InuYasha was the hero and Kagome was just the clumsy girl who always got into trouble.

Though she never said so, she'd always been a bit jealous of the adoring hero worship that her brother had lavished on InuYasha.

For a moment, all Souta's warm rays of awe-inspired regard were centered on her, his big sister. A light sting of happiness burned in the back of her eyes and she felt overwhelmed with cherished honor. She basked in the glow of this rare moment between siblings and carved the memory into a special place in her memory. In the coming days, when the final confrontation Naraku would loom before her, Kagome would draw courage from this precious moment.

She leaned forward and her expression grew serious.

"This is a big secret, Souta," she cautioned. "Not even InuYasha knows that I'm training at a dojo."

Souta sobered at that and nodded his understanding.

"Don't worry, Kagome. I'll keep your secret," he vowed.

Kagome was humbled by his maturity and simultaneously marveled at how fast he was growing up. She straightened and told him she'd better get gone before InuYasha showed up.

"If he does, I'll cover for you," Souta promised.

Her throat grew tight and she softly murmured, "Thank you."

With that, Kagome turned on her heel and sprinted down the street, her nearly empty book bag bouncing against her back. Even if she had a full load of textbooks stuffed into her backpack instead of work out clothes, Kagome would've felt lighter than air.

Souta was proud of her! If he could find a reason to be, then she would too.

_Someday, I'll be proud of myself, too. _Kagome vowed.

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><p><strong>I hope you've enjoyed this little sibling love drabble.<strong>

**If any of you have ideas for a drabble that you'd like me to write in this series, I'm open to requests. ^_^**


	4. Enter the Barracuda

**Well, I figured I've teased you guys enough, so here is an action-packed chapter with Kagome making her big kick-ass debut!**

**Enjoy!**

**As always, I do not own InuYasha and friends. I do, however, own the concept of Onikamasu Dojo and the brassy Joss.**

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><p><strong><em>Enter the Barracuda<em>**

Kagome had spent months sneaking off to Onikamasu Dojo where she'd invested countless hours of sweat and pain into her training. She'd busted her lip at least three times and had to soak for an hour in a hot bath after every session to relieve the tension in her screaming muscles. InuYasha had been suspicious when she'd insisted on returning home so frequently, but he chalked it all up to some influx of "test yokai" in her era.

The irony was that the "test yokai" was in the Feudal Era. Literally.

When Kagome returned from a visit to her world, Kaede told her that her friends had left the village to investigate a demonic aura.

"I'm worried about them," Kaede admitted. "This aura felt especially terrible and I've felt a disturbance in the air since they left."

"How long have they been gone?" Kagome asked tersely.

"Too long," Kaede answered. "If the demon is as close as I expect, they should've dispatched with it by now."

Kagome nodded in understanding and dropped her backpack on the worn plank floor.

"I'll need a horse," she stated calmly as she began to tug off her school uniform. "Can you see about getting one saddled up?"

Kaede stood unmoving, curiously staring as strange black garb was revealed hidden underneath Kagome's uniform. The leather outfit vaguely resembled Sango's fighting ensemble, but there was no mistaking the two. Kagome's was a one-piece affair that brazenly embraced her curves and the saucy v-neck cheekily hinted at cleavage. The words "Onikamasu Dojo" were embroidered in bright red down the sleeves.

Kagome kicked out of her dull brown loafers and plopped down on the floor. She retrieved a pair of black boots, a belt loaded with mysterious pouches and, most astonishing of all, a katana from her backpack.

"Kagome, what is all this?" the old miko inquired of the younger.

Kagome pulled on a knee-high boot, held the sides together and tugged the zipper up her calf.

"I'll explain everything later," she promised as she hurriedly pulled on the other boot.

Kaede nodded and wordlessly exited the hut. She instructed a village man to prepare the fastest of the village horses and do so with haste. He sprinted to carry out her orders and returned a scant few moments later with a lean roan stallion. As he brought up the mount, Kagome dashed out of Kaede's hut buckling her belt around her hips. She tucked her katana into a belt loop and secured it with practiced speed.

Kagome put her foot into the stirrup, grabbed hold of the saddle horn and swung up into the saddle. The villager handed her the reins and Kagome met the old miko's worried eyes with confident determination.

"I'll bring them back," she vowed.

She wheeled her mount around and urged him into a gallop, following the demonic aura and the impure ripple of a tainted Shikon Jewel fragment.

"Don't forget to bring yourself back," Kaede murmured, sending up a prayer for the safety of the futuristic miko and her friends.

Kagome didn't have far to ride and her thoughts were in a spin as she prayed that her friends were alright. This was it, the culmination of weeks of preparation and the moment of truth. If her friends were still battling the demon, her arrival would tip the scales in their favor. When the echoing ruckus of battle reached her, Kagome's mount shied away so she leapt down from the saddle and took off on foot. She didn't have time to wrestle with a skittish horse, not when her friends were in danger.

As she plunged through the forest, she shoved her fears and doubts aside. She didn't care anymore about proving that she was as useful as Sango or better than Kikyo. All that mattered was saving her friends and annihilating whatever monster dared to threaten them.

Just then, she broke out of the forest and into a clearing that had become a war zone. The bodies of several demons similar in appearance were strewn about the battlefield, but, thankfully, they were the only casualties she saw. The last of them was making a final stand and doing an extraordinary job of it. Miroku was struggling to get back into the fight as was Sango. Kirara and Shippo were tending to them, while InuYasha was on the defensive against the demon.

Empowered by Shikon Jewel fragment, this monster looked like some bizarre hellhound. It was at least four times the size of a transformed Kirara and had a pair of horns that curved backwards jutting out from its skull. Its leathery skin was black and its talons were the longest any of them had ever seen on a demon. With its lipless maw and exaggerated fangs openly overlapping one another, it was one of the most horrifying creatures Kagome had ever seen.

The demon must've been lurking near a human settlement lying in wait for a hapless victim when InuYasha and company had come across it. The hanyou was struggling to evade the attacks of the advancing demon and couldn't get a chance to land a blow of his own.

Shippo was the first to catch sight of Kagome and he cried, "Kagome is here!"

InuYasha sought her out with his eyes and that momentary distraction cost him. The demon pounced and pinned InuYasha to the ground, baring its fangs in a leer of triumph. The beast's claws sank into his chest and it reared its massive head back, preparing for the final strike.

In an instant, Kagome's rage flared to life, hot and strong.

"You _bastard_!" she screamed. "Come on and fight _me_ if you think you're such a badass!" she challenged in blind rage.

Kagome's spiritual energy swirled around her in a crackling vortex and the demon paused to consider the new arrival on the battlefield. Devouring a hanyou and absorbing its demonic strength was one thing, but the strange woman seemed stronger than he. The beast could tell she was mortal, that in and of itself was nothing remarkable, but her aura was decidedly miko. Calculating the more beneficial of the two potential kills, the beast glanced at the hanyou in its clutches and flung him away in disgust.

InuYasha went flying and was so dazed from pain that he couldn't catch himself from falling. He landed with sickening thud and bounced once before skidding sideways in the gravelly dirt. The demon made a beeline for Kagome, swatting an airborne Sango and Kirara out of the way. Kirara just barely managed flip herself so that she took the brunt of the blow and the pair of them went spinning out of control. Sango barely managed to hang on to Kirara and the two of them hit the ground rolling, stopping not far from InuYasha. With a cry of rage on behalf of his woman, Miroku swung his staff, but the demon expected the blow. It plucked him from the ground before he could strike and tossed him aside, Shippo clinging to his shoulder for dear life. The little kitsune had sense enough to transform and cushion the monk from a landing that would've broken his neck.

With the dispatching of Miroku and Shippo, Kagome's final line of defense rested on herself. The Onikamasu Miko. The demon grinned at her with long fangs dripping with bloodlust. Now it was down to the wire, the barracuda versus the demon.

Kagome sent the demon a cocky smirk and yelled, "Oi! Are you just gonna stand there all day or what?"

With a gleeful roar, the monster barreled towards her and she heard her friends scream at her to run for it. They were down for the count in this battle and frantic on the sidelines. Kagome stood her ground, her body tensed like a tightly coiled spring. Her friends' desperate cries and the demon's premature howl of triumph simultaneously built to a crescendo. The miko funneled her powers and concentrated them into her feet, trusting her secret weapon to do its job.

Suddenly, Kagome leapt through the air and planted a booted heel straight into the snarling demon's face. The monster howled in agony as the spiked heel sank into its flesh and a pink light erupted from the puncture. Kagome pushed off from the demon in a backward leap and landed with catlike grace on her feet. Before she could inwardly gloat in the fluidity of her acrobatic move, the demon charged and she shifted into warrior gear. The demon's face was half melted around a distinctive boot print and its blundering attack was completely blind. She scrambled to avoid the demon's wild charge and knew she had precious few seconds before the beast began to regenerate itself with the jewel shard. Kagome's hand dropped to her hip and she snatched her katana from its sheath.

"Come and get me asshole," she snarled, readying herself to strike.

Even blinded and nearly faceless, the demon could still sense the angry pulse of her spiritual energy and it whirled around to charge once more.

"KAGOME!" InuYasha roared as he struggled to gain his feet, but it was too late.

The demon was upon her and there was no room for her to escape its snarling maw and dripping fangs. At the last possible second, Kagome ducked and sidestepped the demon. She grabbed hold of a horn with her free hand and then swung herself up on its back. The demon bucked and roared, but Kagome had clamped her knees in a death grip around it. She dug her spiked heels deep into its sides to hold her steady as the demon struggled to throw her. She raised her katana for the deathblow and summoned every ounce of her miko powers.

"You picked on the wrong girl, bastard," she growled.

With all her strength, Kagome shoved her sword downward and impaled the demon's head. From her sword, a pink light glowed as she channeled her spiritual power through the blade and purified both demon and jewel shard. The beast rent the air with one final roar of agony and rage then collapsed.

Scowling, Kagome stood and stepped over the lifeless body of the demon. She plucked the now pure jewel shard from its forehead and placed it in the tiny jar that hung around her neck. Instantly, she sought out InuYasha and left her katana imbedded in the dissolving demon's skull. The residual waves of anger that had fueled her powers were slowly ebbing, though twin clouds of pink smoke still rose from her boot heels and trailed after her.

While she'd been training with Joss, Kagome frequently daydreamed about this day. The moment she'd reveal her secret training in a glorious battle with a demon and her friends would look on in awe. Now that the time was upon her, she realized that her daydreams never included any of her friends getting hurt.

"Are you guys okay?" she inquired.

Her friends stared at her with mouths hanging open and their eyes round with astonishment. Not a single one of them were able to speak and they were all immobilized by shock. Kagome shifted uncomfortably, unaware that her hips swayed enticingly under the black leather.

Unable to help himself, InuYasha whistled.

"_Damn_," he drawled with a fanged grin.

With that, the awkward moment was shattered and Kagome dissolved into hysterical laughter.

Well, at least _that_ part went according to her fantasy. Sorta.

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><p><em><strong>For those of you who think this is it for Miko Fatale, stay tuned! I've still got several ideas stewing!<strong>_


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